1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to snare strainers, which control snappy members to be selectively brought into contact with or separated from drumheads and/or backsides of snare drums.
This application claims priority on Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-310418, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
Snare drums are used to realize special sound effects called tambourine effects, the technologies of which are disclosed in various documents such as Japanese Examined Utility Model Publication No. S58-50372, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,008,445, 5,844,157, and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-202063. Snare drums are equipped with snare strainers for controlling snappy members (each constituted of thin wires, i.e., snares) to be brought into contact with or separated from either drumheads (i.e., striking sides of snare drums) or backside heads, or they are equipped with snare strainers for controlling snappy members to be selectively brought into contact with or separated from both of drumheads and backside heads, whereby vibrations of drumheads are transmitted to snares so as to produce rattling light tone colors of drum sounds.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the exterior appearance of a conventionally-known snare drum, in which a snappy member is attached to a backside head positioned opposite to a drumhead (i.e., a striking side of the snare drum). FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing a method of how to attach a snappy member to a snare strainer. Specifically, reference numeral 1 designates a snare drum; reference numeral 2 designates a cylindrical body (i.e., a cylinder), both ends of which are opened; reference numeral 3 designates a backside head covering the backside opening of the cylinder 2; reference numerals 4 designate hoops (or clamp frames) engaged with the openings of the cylinder 2; reference numerals 5 designate lugs; reference numerals 6 designate bolts for tightening and interconnecting the hoops 4 and the lugs 5 together; reference numeral 7 designates a snappy member attached to the backside head 3 of the snare drum 1; reference numeral 8 designates a first strainer for holding a moving terminal 7A of the snappy member 7; and reference numeral 9 designates a second strainer for holding a fixed terminal 7B of the snappy member 7. That is, a snare strainer adapted to the snappy member 7 is constituted of the first strainer 8 and the second strainer 9.
The snappy member 7 is constituted of a plurality of snares 11, which are laid in parallel with each other in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction thereof with prescribed distances therebetween, a pair of snappy plates 12A and 12B, to which both ends of the snares 11 are fixed via solder or adhesive, and a pair of interconnection members 13A and 13B (FIG. 5 does not illustrate 13B) having flexibilities and attached to the snappy plates 12A and 12B. The interconnection member 13A (whose constitution is substantially identical to the constitution of the interconnection member 13B) is tightly held by means of a first holding member 14A and a second holding member 14B, which are detachably attached to the first snare strainer 8.
The first strainer 8 controls the moving terminal 7A of the snappy member 7 to be selectively brought into contact with or separated from the backside head 3 of the snare drum 1. The first strainer 8 is constituted of the holding members 14A and 14B, a fixed base 15 fixed to the circumferential exterior of the cylinder 2, a moving base 16, which is freely movable in directions A and B, in other words, which is freely movable so that the snappy member 7 is brought into contact with or separated from the backside head 3, a switch mechanism 17, which controls the moving base 16 to be vertically moved relative to the fixed base 15 by way of a manual operation of a lever 17A so that the moving terminal 7A of the snappy member 7 is selectively brought into contact with or separated from the backside head 3, and a tension adjustment screw 18, which controls the moving base 16 to be vertically moved relative to the fixed base 15 so as to adjust a tension of the snappy member 7. The holding members 14A and 14B are fixed to the lower end portion of the moving base 16 via two square-headed bolts 19 in such a way that they tightly hold the interconnection member 13A.
The second strainer 9 differs from the first strainer 8 in that it is not equipped with a mechanism allowing the fixed terminal 7B of the snappy member 7 to be selectively brought into contact with or separated from the backside head 3 and a device for adjusting the tension of the snappy member 7. That is, the second strainer 9 is simply constituted of a fixed base (not shown) fixed to the circumferential exterior of the cylinder 2 and a pair of holding members (not shown) for holding the interconnection member 13B attached to the fixed terminal 7B of the snappy member 7.
When the snare drum 1 whose snare strainer is constituted of the first strainer 8 and the second strainer 9 is played without using the snappy member 7, the lever 17A of the switch mechanism 17 is manually rotated by a predetermined angle. When the lever 17A is rotated, the moving base 16 moves downwardly along the fixed base 15 so as to pull down the moving terminal 7A of the snappy member 7, thus releasing the snappy member 7 from the tensile condition (or stretched condition). At this time, the snappy member 7 is partially hung down due to its own weight and is separated from the backside head 3. This realizes a non-snappy mode allowing the snare drum 1 to be played without using the snappy member 7.
When the lever 17A, which is once set to the non-snappy mode, is moved oppositely by a prescribed angle to restore the original position thereof, the moving base 16 is lifted up to the original height so that the snappy member 7 is placed in the tensile condition and is brought into contact with the backside head 3. That is, the snare drum 1 is changed over from the non-snappy mode to the snappy mode using the snappy member 7. When the drumhead of the snare drum 1 is struck with a stick (or sticks) in the snappy mode, the vibration of the drumhead is transmitted to the snares 11 via the backside head 3. Thus, it is possible to realize the aforementioned special sound effect in which the drumhead and the backside head 3 of the snare drum 1 vibrate together with the snares 11 so as to produce the rattling light tone color.
In order to replace the backside head 3 with another head, the snare drum 1 is subjected to prescribed procedures, in which the bolts 19 are loosened so as to allow the snappy member 7 to be detached from the snare strainer of the snare drum 1; then, the bolts 6 are released from the lugs 5 so as to allow the hoops 4 to be detached from the cylinder 2; thereafter, the backside head 3 is replaced with another head. After completion of the replacement, the snappy member 7 is attached again to the snare drum 1 in accordance with procedures opposite to the aforementioned procedures.
According to the aforementioned fixing structure for fixing the snappy member 7 to the first strainer 8 (whose constitution is similar to the constitution of the second strainer 9), the interconnection member 13A interconnected to the moving terminal 7A of the snappy member 7 is tightly held between the holding members 14A and 14B, which are then fixed to the lower end portion of the moving base 16 (or the fixed based in the case of the second strainer 9) via the two square-headed bolts 19 by use of a drum key or wrench. For this reason, when the snappy member 7 is replaced with another type of snappy member, or when the backside head 3 is replaced with another head, it is necessary for a person to manually loosen the two square-headed bolts 19 so as to remove the snappy member 7 from the snare strainer of the snare drum 1. After completion of the replacement, it is necessary for the person to tightly hold the interconnection member 13A between the holding members 14A and 14B, which are then fixed to the moving base 16 via the square-headed bolts 19. This is a very troublesome operation.
When the interconnection member 13A is tightly held between the holding members 14A and 14B again so that the holding position thereof is unexpectedly changed, it is necessary for the person to readjust the tension of the snappy member 7 by use of the tension adjustment screw 18. It takes a relatively long time for the person to replace the backside head 3 with another head.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-202063 discloses a technology realizing a solution to the aforementioned problem, wherein it teaches a snare strainer including first and second holding members for tightly holding a snappy member, and wherein the first holding member is fixed to a moving base via a single bolt. This allows the person to fix the first holding member to the moving base by use of a single bolt, whereby it is possible to reduce the working time for attaching and removing the snappy member by means of the snare strainer compared with the conventionally-known snare strainer shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.
In addition, the aforementioned technology allows the person to remove the first and second holding members still tightly holding the interconnection member from the moving base. This eliminates the necessity of removing the interconnection member from the first and second holding members during the replacement of the backside head; and it is unnecessary to readjust the tension of the snappy member.
However, the aforementioned technology still requires a bolt, which is troublesome for the person to tighten and loosen. That is, the aforementioned technology does not realize an advantage over the conventionally-known snare strainer because it is still troublesome for the person to tighten and loosen the bolt. Therefore, it is strongly demanded to further improve the replacement work of snappy members and to further improve the handling of snare strainers.